The Turkish textile and raw materials sector has seen a decline in exports by 11.9% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, according to the Textile and Raw Materials Sector, March 2023 Exports Performance Report published by ITHIB.
The sector's total exports for the period amounted to approximately $3 billion. However, exports of textiles and raw materials increased by 23.1% in March 2023 compared to the previous month, when an earthquake disaster occurred. In contrast, exports decreased by 8.6% compared to March 2022, amounting to approximately $1.1 billion, with a share of 4.6% in Turkey's overall exports.
In the first quarter of 2023, the EU (27) countries were the highest export destination for Turkish textile and raw materials, with exports valued at $1.2 billion, representing a decrease of 24.7% compared to the same period in 2022. Meanwhile, exports to African countries, the second-largest market, decreased by 22.5% to $305.7 million.
The highest increase in Turkish textile exports was to Iran, which was the country with the highest increase in exports among the top 10 countries to which Turkey exported the most textile and raw materials in the January-March period of 2023, with an increase of 15.8%.
The woven fabric product group took the biggest slice in exports, with a share of 21.4%, totaling $637.1 million. Within this category, woven fabric from synthetic artificial filament yarns was the most exported sub-product group, with a share of 40.5% and an export value of approximately $258 million. However, exports of yarn, which ranked third, decreased by 24.7% in the same period, totaling $529 million.
Despite the decline in overall textile exports, knitted fabric exports increased by 3.2% to $502.7 million, while home textile exports decreased by 13% to $476.3 million, and fiber exports decreased by 3% to $287.5 million. Exports of the garment sub-industry increased by 11.5% to $158.1 million in the January-March period of 2023.
The capacity utilization rate of the textile product manufacturing industry was 66.1% in March 2023, a decrease of 12.9% compared to March of the previous year, according to the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey's capacity utilization report.
Furthermore, the Turkish Statistical Institute reported a decrease of 18.3% in the textile industry production index in December 2022 compared to the same month in the previous year, while the manufacturing industry production index increased by 0.5%.
